


American Boyfriend

by baeXbv



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, stupidly stupids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 16:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19727500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeXbv/pseuds/baeXbv
Summary: 5 times Jaemin kisses (or at least tries to kiss) Mark and the 1 time Mark kisses Jaemin back.





	American Boyfriend

The first time Jaemin kissed Mark, both were crying. That day Mark had taken his favorite plushie, a pink tiger, to school with him, and Jaemin had been playing with it for a while. But as soon as Mark asked for it back he refused. 

‘You always tell us we have to share!’ Jaemin’s voice was loud despite the hiccups that he let out after every few words. A barely audible ‘But it’s mine’ came out of Mark’s mouth, followed by a slightly louder ‘You have to give it back.’ when he realized the attention was on him.

‘He’s right Jaemin.’ Doyoung said while crouching in front of the duo, ‘Even if we have to share, we also have to give it back to their owner’ He took the plushie, now forgotten on the floor, and held it between them. ‘So now Jaemin will apologize to Mark and then I’m giving this back to him. Understood?’ Mark immediately nodded, determined to do anything to get his beloved plush back, while Jaemin screamed out a ‘No’, still feeling wronged. ‘Give it back!’ Mark screamed, getting tired of the situation. ‘I said no! I want to play with him! You can’t play with him if you don't even give him a name.’ Jaemin replied, stretching his arms to take it from Doyoung. The older moved his hand up, putting it out of reach for the kids ‘Nana, that’s not nice. Mark can name his plushies whenever he wants, and you should respect that.’ The younger stomped his feet, more tears streaming down his cheeks and sprouting a bunch of complaining noises. Doyoung sighed, getting ready to bribe the kid and move on when Mark spoke up again. ‘We could play together.’ he was looking everywhere except Jaemin refusing to keep eye contact with him. Seeing how the younger’s face lit up after that, Doyoung tried again ‘Only if he apologizes first’. Jaemin really wanted that plushie, so he apologized the only way he knew. A kiss. Even if it was quick it was enough to surprise Mark, who froze on the spot and could not hear Doyoung asking him if he accepted the apology. 

‘Mark? Are you there?’ He only nodded. ‘Okay, if you accept the apology then you and Nana can go play!’ Mark nodded again, grabbing the tiger from the older and turned to pull on Jaemin’s sleeve, asking ‘Do you wanna play in the sandbox?’ The taller gave him a giant smile and replied ‘Of course!’ right before grabbing his hand and dragging him away.

Later that night, Mark finally decided to name his plushie after his new friend, giving it a kiss and whispering a soft ‘Goodnight nana’ before falling asleep.

♡

  
They became almost inseparable after that and insisted on doing as many things together as possible, especially their birthday parties. Out of all of them, the most memorable one for Jaemin was their 10th birthday. Nothing really special happened until they opened the presents. Jaemin remembers vividly ripping open the paper and finding Nana staring at him.

‘Why would you…?’ He couldn’t finish his sentence, still in shock. ‘I know you always liked Nana as much as I do, and I thought he wouldn’t mind staying with you.’ Mark said sheepishly, his cheeks slowly turning red ‘If you think it’s too much I can-’ the taller interrupted him ‘No! I love it, it’s just… Are you sure you want me to have it?’ Mark gave him the brightest smile he could muster ‘Of course! He wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want you to keep him.’ Jaemin tackled him in a hug, resulting in both of them falling to the floor in a laughing fit. They would have stayed like that forever if it wasn’t for their parents asking them to pose for some pictures. While standing in the middle of their friend group, Jaemin realized he really wanted to kiss Mark. And since Mark himself was his full impulse control, he just did it, leaving his blushed cheeks and Mark’s surprised face immortalized. 

♡

As the years went by, they became best friends with Donghyuck and by default with Jeno, who always tagged along with the other. That fact made it less surprising when Jeno confided in them about the ginormous crush he had in Hyuck. 

‘Hey Mark, how do you use adverbs?’ Jaemin said from his designated spot in Mark’s living room floor. They were doing homework while waiting for the other two to show up for their (almost weekly) sleepover. Mark looked up from his own homework, looking confused (and way too adorable, in Jaemin’s personal opinion) ‘What’s an adverb?’ 

‘You should know this stuff, aren’t you American?’

‘I’m Canadian.’

‘Same difference. How come you don’t know basic English?’

‘I know more than basic English, Jaemin, that’s the problem.’

‘How is _ that _ a problem, you stupid American?’

‘Because I just know stuff, Jaemin, not how to properly use it. And for the last time, I'm not American.’

‘But you're my American boyfriend, aren’t you?’ Jaemin replied in English. Before any of them could realize what happened, the doorbell rang. Mark stood up as fast as possible, leaving Jaemin to wallow in self-confidence. 

‘Where’s Hyuck? I thought he was coming’ said Jeno, while getting comfortable on the couch.

Jaemin looked questioningly at him ‘He’s coming later, he has dance class today, remember?’ Jeno replied with a somewhat affirmative noise. Stopping to think about it, Jaemin realized that Jeno always seemed overly invested in Donghyuck. He tended to follow the shorter like a lost puppy, looked at him like he had the whole universe in his hands, always looked for excuses to hug the other or stay close to- oh. Jaemin got it then.

‘Jeno, quick question. Do you like Donghyuck?’ Jeno made a surprised noise ‘No! I mean, no. I don't like him. And I don't like those big ass cutie cheeks of him, okay? And it's not like I love his hugs even if I say that I don-’ he was interrupted by Jaemin and Mark loudly slurping their respective drinks.

Jaemin puts down his drink and rests his head on his hands ‘You’re whipped’ Mark nodded in agreement and added ‘Just confess, he looks pretty in love too.’

The taller narrows his eyes at the duo ‘Fuck you two. I don't have anything to confess because I don’t like him and I'm not whipped’

‘Sure, whatever you say.’

After a few minutes of silence, Jeno finally spoke up ‘I might have a slight crush on in him.’ 

The trio decided to make what they thought was a foolproof plan, to get Jeno to at least smooch Hyuck’s cheeks. Later that night, when he joined them, they (not so) subtly proposed playing spin the bottle and managed to get Donghyuck to sit right in front of Jeno. Everything seemed to be going well, the first spins failing to land on any of them, but there was a thing they didn’t count with. 

When it was Mark’s turn, he lazily spun the bottle hoping to get this over and done as soon as possible. But, as always, luck wasn’t really on his side and landed on Jaemin. They stared at each other shocked, not knowing how to react until Hyuck broke the awkward silence. ‘So? This was your idea and you won’t even follow through? Weak.’ he scoffed. Mark was about to come up with some bullshit excuse to avoid it when Jaemin moved to sit closer to him. ‘Come on, we can’t disappoint the audience.’ He sounded as confident and playful as always, but Mark could see his cheeks getting pink. ‘Are you sure? We really don't have-’ The younger interrupted him, shushing him loudly while putting a finger to his lips. ‘Be brave, Marcus. Aren’t you a Leo?’ Jaemin’s face getting redder by the second, and the slight shake to his hands were the only giveaways of his nervousness, too focused on making sure his voice didn’t waver. And before Mark could speak again, Jaemin planted a quick kiss on his lips. They both looked away right after, Jaemin going back to his spot and Mark fumbling with the hem of his shirt.

‘This is fun, I guess.’ Jeno said while staring down at the bottle. ‘You know what else is fun? Snacks. I’ll go get some.’ he sprung up, almost running towards the door. ‘I’ll go with you!’ Donghyuck followed suit, also scrambling to get away from whatever weird feeling was hanging on the air. 

Mark cleared his throat and looked up, staring straight at Jaemin’s ridiculously red face. ‘Should we make the beds?’ He sounded calm, almost like nothing ever happened. Jaemin replied with an affirmative noise, not trusting his voice, and stood up to help the shorter. Sadly, the two were too focused on finding out whatever was that made the whole situation so awkward to see how Jeno and Donghyuck were closer than usual.

♡

‘We’re not watching that’ Jaemin huffed, turning to look at the others. ‘Yes, we are.’ Jeno made it sound more like a question than an affirmation with made Jaemin raise an eyebrow and reply ‘Over my dead body, nerd’. Both Jeno and Donghyuck gasped loudly, with the dramatism that always surrounded them. Unsurprisingly, nothing changed between them since they made their relationship official. ‘Call me nerd one more time and I’ll get my buff boyfriend to beat you up.’ The taller replied while Hyuck nodded beside him.

‘Hyuck is anything but buff.’ Jaemin deadpanned, unconsciously moving closer to Mark as if trying to get the other to agree with him.

‘Just say you’re jealous of us and go, Jaemin.’ Hyuck scoffed while Jeno curled around his arm like he was trying to showcase how strong the shorter was. After that, Mark finally spoke up ‘I mean, Jeno does have more muscle than you.’ 

‘But he doesn’t know how to use them, so I’m the buff one by default’ The shorter defended himself, and before he could continue Mark interrupted him ‘Whatever you say. Now choose the fucking movie, please.’

  
  


After the movie, Mark and Jaemin were left waiting on the curb for their parents to pick them up since it got late and their buses didn’t run anymore. They sat in comfortable silence, until their phones dinged with a notification from Donghyuck, letting them know he and Jeno were safely home.

‘They are really cute together, aren’t they’ Jaemin commented, barely containing a smile while looking at the silly selfie they sent. Mark hummed in agreement. ‘A match made in heaven.’ The taller fake laughed, commenting ‘Hell if you ask me’

‘Aw, is little Jaemin jealous?’ Mark said mockingly, trying to pinch Jaemin’s cheek. 

‘Shut up.’ He replied, swapping away Mark’s hand. The older, who clearly enjoyed being the one doing the mocking for once, continued. ‘Do you want your own buff boyfriend too?’

Jaemin tried to put his best puppy eyes, whining a weak ‘Stoooop’ while pushing away Mark. 

‘Oh, you're blushing! Cute.’ 

‘I will shatter your kneecaps, Lee.’ Jaemin refused to look at Mark, while the other just scrunched up his face and replied ‘Try me, Na’ He turned his head to glare at Mark, but found the other staring at him, closer than before. He couldn’t help but make eye contact and got stuck in the older’s eyes until Mark broke the tiny silence they had fallen in. 

‘Jokes aside, do you like someone?’ Jaemin swallowed, averting his eyes to look somewhere behind Mark. ‘Do you?’ The shorter moved a bit closer, enough to completely fill Jaemin’s camp of vision. Caught out of guard, Mark didn’t reply for a second, even if it felt like an eternity to Jaemin. ‘I might.’ He felt his heart drop, tempted to ask who it was, but decided against it. ‘I might too.’ He only got a noncommittal noise as a reply. 

Jaemin saw Mark’s eyes fall to his lips, and without thinking, closed the distance between them. It was quick, rushed, and barely considered a kiss, but enough to leave both of them speechless. They stayed staring at each other, neither moving in fear of breaking the moment until a car horn was heard. Both turned their heads to see what it was, finding Jaemin’s older brother waiting for him in his car. 

‘I gotta go, goodnight.’ He said while standing up. ‘See you on Monday.’ Called mark behind him, giving him a small reassuring smile.

♡

Mark was nowhere to be found. It was third period and he still hadn’t made an appearance, which was highly unusual from him. When Jaemin took out his phone to ask where the fuck was he, he saw a message from Mark asking to come over.

‘He-’ Before he could finish, a bundled-up mark slammed against his body, looking up at him and saying ‘I’m dying’ with his best puppy eyes. Jaemin tried to hold back a smile, putting his hand on the older’s forehead. ‘I think it’s just a fever’ Mark groaned and shook his head

‘Death has its hands around my throat, I won’t last long’ he said with a groggy voice, finally standing up on his own and going back into his house. 

They ended up laying in mark’s bed, each wrapped up in a different blanket, watching some random drama on TV. Jaemin looked down at mark, who had his head in his shoulder, right when he was looking up. Remembering the promise he made to himself, he dared to bow down his head, with the intention of kissing the older. Before he could get close enough, mark moved away to sneeze, leaving Jaemin just staring at his own shoulder. ‘Bless you.’ He said while straightening up, feeling a blush of embarrassment creeping up his neck. After this disaster, Jaemin was ready to give up.

♡

The first time Mark kissed Jaemin, it was in front of their local cinema. After Mark's deadly cold passed, they decided to go out to celebrate, but Jaemin was late as always. Not even bothering to check the time, Mark waited by their usual meet up spot and from there he could see Jaemin finally coming his way, how he tripped when he saw the older, and how he proceeded to slam his head against a light pole. 

Mark rushed to his side, kneeling beside him and placing his head on his lap. He tried to mask his laughter with a concerned ‘Shit, are you okay?’ 

Jaemin opened one of his eyes, a hand resting on the spot he had hit. Clearly dazed, he only managed to let out an ‘Mhm’ before hissing in pain. Mark moved his hand, leaning in to check the place he had hit. ‘Are you sure? That's a pretty big bump you got there’. 

Despite the dizziness he felt, Jaemin nodded and replied with a weak ‘Of course’ in an attempt to convince Mark. But of course, his best friend wasn't easily fooled. 

‘You slammed your head against a light pole, you can’t be okay right away’ He said while carefully brushing Jaemins bangs away from his forehead. Finally opening both of his eyes, Jaemin clears his throat and let out a clear ‘Yeah, I can’. 

Mark ignored him, straightening his back and looking around. ‘I think I should bring something for your head’ In his confused estate, Jaemin lost his brain to mouth filter ‘A kiss is enough’ that took Mark by surprise, who took a few seconds to react. ‘A what now?’ 

Might as well finish what he started, right? ‘A kiss.’ He could see a smile trying to creep his way into marks mouth, being obviously held back. 

‘Would that really help?’ Mark’s eyes looked soft, almost shimmering with a thousand stars inside them, and Jaemin couldn't look away. 

‘Of course it would, Marcus. Don’t underestimate the power of love.’ The shorter shrugged, and let the smile fully form, resting his hand in Jaemins cheek ‘If you insist.’

Mark bent down to kiss Jaemin's head, missing his forehead completely and landing on the other's lips. It was short and sweet, but better than they ever imagined. Mark caressed his cheek with his thumb, blinking a few times before asking 'Did it work?'. Jaemin smiled, resting his hand on top of mark's 'Aha' 

A mischievous smile made his way into Mark’s face 'You still look out of it, do you need another kiss' A blush covered Jaemin's cheeks, joining the redness of his forehead. 'With one condition' 

'Surprise me' 

'You have to be my American boyfriend, or you can't kiss me at all' 

Mark nodded with a laugh. 'Sounds fair' Jaemin closed his eyes, nodding shortly before mumbling a 'Good’. Mark poked his side, making the younger giggle. He helped him get up and hugged him by the waist to make sure he didn't fall. 

'Do you want your kiss now?' Jaemin groaned, resting his head on Mark's shoulder. 'I think I prefer some ice, it still hurts.' 


End file.
